Although not technically a rookie, Theo Peckham is spending his first full season in the NHL. His impact is obvious, and he's moving up the depth chart.

Some of us have long thought that Theo Peckham would be an excellent Edmonton Oiler. Although we don't like to get caught up in the difference between "5D" and "top 4D" there has been some resistance from some quarters in the past in terms of Peckham's potential to play important minutes on an NHL hockey team.

Peckham played 21:16 at even strength last night, trailing only Tom Gilbert in minutes played straight up. Theo Peckham is as tough as nails, a real throwback. He could have played the blue 30 years ago without changing much in terms of style and attitude. He's a willing fighter, and when the Flames laid a big hit early last night it was the kid Peckham who responded with one of his own (without taking a penalty).

HEADS UP

Opposition forwards are forced to keep their heads up when he's around, and he can play. Pat Quinn referenced this after last season:

"When I first saw him (in an Oilers uniform), the scouting report was that he was a tough kid who didn't really know how to play. When he came back (on his most recent call-up), he showed us that he had a little bit more than just being a tough guy. As he played and gained our confidence, he was gaining his own as well. They were really good minutes for him."

Peckham is building on that resume this year. He's healthy, confident and having an impact on the roster and depth chart. In a season where we are celebrating rookies and youth, let's not forget about Theo Peckham.

He's developing into a useful NHL hockey player.

Lowetide has been one of the Oilogosphere's shining lights for over a century. You can check him out here at OilersNation and at lowetide.ca. He is also the host of Lowdown with Lowetide weekday mornings 10-noon on TSN 1260.

Peckham has been solid so far this season, definitely liked what I've seen from him thus far. In time I think he could become a really good shutdown defenseman.

Whitney seems to be struggling after his surgery. Gilbert is hot and cold, Smid is pretty consistent, but the remaining defensemen just aren't very good. Foster is a one trick pony without much defensive upside, Strudwick is all heart and not much ability and Vandermeer is tough but could get outskated by a 5 year old and gives up on plays far too often and far too easily.

Hopefully the defensive pairings get better as they become more accustomed to one another. If anyone falters it's nice to know Belle and Petiot are right around the corner.

I know I'll likely get blasted for this but (and PLEASE don't mistake me for an Eberle doubter, the kid is a joy to watch)...

Late in yesterday's overtime, Penner and Eberle went down 2 vs 2, Penner was carrying the puck, cut left, took a bad angle shot which happened to dribble through Kipper and then through the crease. The puck was ultimately picked up by a Flame.

My small issue is this, instead of driving hard to the net and scoring the tap in OT winner, Eberle, for some reason, pretty much followed Penner's path to the left? Not sure what he was trying to accomplish there. Your thoughts would be appreciated!

I think he's still learning in the bigs. Probably not too many guys he's played with in the past would get that puck to the net.

He probably wanted to give Penner puck support if he needed to dish back along the boards.

I know I'll likely get blasted for this but (and PLEASE don't mistake me for an Eberle doubter, the kid is a joy to watch)...

Late in yesterday's overtime, Penner and Eberle went down 2 vs 2, Penner was carrying the puck, cut left, took a bad angle shot which happened to dribble through Kipper and then through the crease. The puck was ultimately picked up by a Flame.

My small issue is this, instead of driving hard to the net and scoring the tap in OT winner, Eberle, for some reason, pretty much followed Penner's path to the left? Not sure what he was trying to accomplish there. Your thoughts would be appreciated!

Saw that one too, he should have gone to the far post. I think he was figuring he needed to go support the puck and get ready for the cycle in the corner.

Eberle came through with a big goal and was the catalyst to the Oilers getting a point rather than being blown out. Love watching the kid play.

The pass was ill advised. Even Whitney himself admits he made the wrong play (read Spector's latest article). The pass was a no-look softie to the side of the net that was in the feet of the intended target while there was pressure in the Oiler zone. That's the definition of "something wrong with the play". It never should have happened. The only out I can give the guy is that there is no reason that Gilbert should have been where he was. Whitney had little to no support from his partner.

Unlike Stauffer, I'm not blaming Cogliano for not receiving a sh*tty pass. Even if Cogliano was calling for it, Whitney should have known better than to softly chip the puck out to that spot on the ice in that situation.

Bad moves by 3 Oilers on that play. Cogliano for asking for it, Gilbert for taking himself out of a position to help, and Whitney for taking the bad chance.

I don't disagree with your assessment. It certainly wasn't all Cogliano's fault on the play. My original post was in response to how brutal Whitney looked on the play originally before I saw the replay and the attempt to pass it to Cogliano. Lots of things went wrong leading up to the pass.

1) Eberle has a good stick. He catches difficult passes well and controls quickly. He uses his stick well on the boards. He sees the ice well because he is not looking at the puck on his stick all the time. When he is on the ice, he has a knack for being where the puck is going to be before it gets there. This is a far better player than I was expecting, especially getting picked late in the first round. He's sort of a cross between Iginla's stickhandling/shot and Weight's shiftiness/creativity. I know those are lofty comparables, but I see enormous upside here, more than I could tell from watching him on TV.

2) MPS and Hall can really skate. Hall looks nervous, almost boxed in at this point. He breaks loose occasionally and shows his promise, but he is young yet, and will be quite good I'm sure. MPS backchecks well as has been noted here before, but seeing him live, you get a feel for his long reach. I don't know if it's long arms or a long stick, but the defenseman don't have anything on his reach like they do on the smaller Oilers forwards.

3) The defence is bad, of course, but actually worse than I could tell from TV. Each player is bad in different ways. The two best by a fair margin last night were Smid and Gilbert in that order. Smid is very impressive, smart, well positioned. He still makes the occasional blunder when he gets pressured, but he is settling down and at his age, is going to be a very good defenseman for many years to come. Gilbert is pretty solid second pairing defenseman on any team, positioning not as good as Smid though. He chases sometimes, or fails to pick up his man in the slot.

Whitney is a problem. Hard to appreciate on TV is how laboured his stride is out there. He looks to be saving himself. I think he is playing in pain, and I wonder how many games he has left. His saving grace is excellent positioning, but his poor footspeed, terrible first step, and below average acceleration are liabilities. His stick is also poor. He makes poor passes from the backend, and has a lot of difficulty holding the puck in at the line in the offensive zone. The play dies a lot off Whitney's stick. I see a player that is a shadow of his former self in Pittsburgh playing out his soon-to-be-injury-shortened career on a 30th place team. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last time that happens.

I know Oilerfans are still admiring the shiny new object that is Whitney, but it is only a matter of time before they sour on him. His point totals are very deceiving as well. Almost all second assists so far, many of which had him contributing nothing at all to the scoring play. His assists are a product of his ice time rather than his actual skill.

4) Strudwick is very slow. He ends up in bad position because of his poor skating. However, you can see the effort in his movements despite his lack of physical ability, and that is worth something in my books (vs Whitney who looks very lazy, but I'm guessing it is pain related rather than lack of desire given what I saw from Whitney in his early career).

I'm not sure why Strudwick fights as much as he does. I'm not a big fan of fights, but I understand their role in the game. I just don't see how throwing 25 ineffective jabs in less than 30 seconds is supposed to inspire your team. I don't think any of his punches ever hit the other guy. Surely the players know what a sham this is?

5) Peckham looks quite good for a rookie. He is making mistakes, mostly accidently, but occasionally overtly when he puts himself far out of position to chase a puck or make a hit. He is far better at this point than what I was expecting. He is an unusual combination of size, quick feet, and grit on a defense corps with zero grit (none of these guys hit). Lots of upside here, and a shining light in the dark blue tunnel.

6) Penner and Hemsky are elite. Penner seems to be getting a rough ride of late, but he is so valuable out there. When he gets the puck, his size and the opposing team's inability to get it from him draws more attention to him than it would any other player and opens the ice up. You can see guys all start cheating toward the puck when Penner gets it. He's pretty good at spotting the open man. He actually skates quite well, but looks kind of slow because he is so big. Good effort, great instincts. And Hemsky, well what can anyone say. What a pleasure it is to watch this man play. He is a magician. I shudder to think what he could do when complemented by two other first line NHL players.

7) Foster is not a very good defenseman. He is a one trick pony, but his one trick, his shot is quick and accurate, so I guess that is worth something.

8) MacIntyre almost jumped off the bench when Gagner fought Jokinen. Like a wild rabid animal he was on his front skate blades for the entire match.

9) Glencross is cheap. He takes cheapshots. He spent an entire shift hounding Brule for a fight putting himself out of the play the entire time, and Brule rebuffed him likely to calls of cowardice. At the time, the Oilers were staging a comeback, so good for Brule not giving in to fighting when the momentum was in the Oilers favour. They both ended up with coincidental minors, and spent the entire time in the penalty box yelling at each other. Great composure from Brule

This is fair commentary, but it is also a case of hindsight being 20/20. I think that hockey, like any other sport, is often about playing the averages. Perhaps the scouting on the Flames was that they always push to the corner to try and encourage oppostion to cycle, and create a turnover. In that case (and granted, it is a big IF) Eberle made the right move by playing the averages...of course, the thing about averages is there's always deviations.

Individual plays are tough to dissect; isn't it more about dissecting the body of work to see if there's a constant trend that needs correction?

I've always liked Peckham.. a lot. I'm a big fan of players that play a strong physical brand of hockey though. But that said, I kind of figured that Peckham would still be 2 or so years away from being an impact player (his impact being solid defense and physical play), and it looks like he is closer than that. He's been a bruising force out there, and hasn't been a big liability on defense (especially when compared to everyone save for Smid).

@ ashley; lots of good points.
RE: Smid; is it me or does he play well with the puck, but without it he seems lost? I've been impressed with his stickhandling under pressure and he always seems to make the right play when the puck is on his stick. But I notice he's in bad spots for a lot of goals against.

I've always liked Peckham.. a lot. I'm a big fan of players that play a strong physical brand of hockey though. But that said, I kind of figured that Peckham would still be 2 or so years away from being an impact player (his impact being solid defense and physical play), and it looks like he is closer than that. He's been a bruising force out there, and hasn't been a big liability on defense (especially when compared to everyone save for Smid).

Very interesting article by Ashley ... views on Whitney are far different than what I have been hearing in the Main Stream Media. MSM was saying that Whitney was just now maturing into a good D-man and Ashley seems to be saying that his best days are behind him.

Very interesting article by Ashley ... views on Whitney are far different than what I have been hearing in the Main Stream Media. MSM was saying that Whitney was just now maturing into a good D-man and Ashley seems to be saying that his best days are behind him.

I wonder what Gregor/Brownlee might say about Whitney.

~I'm definitely going to side with ashley on this one, Whitney's career is over.~

Very interesting article by Ashley ... views on Whitney are far different than what I have been hearing in the Main Stream Media. MSM was saying that Whitney was just now maturing into a good D-man and Ashley seems to be saying that his best days are behind him.

I wonder what Gregor/Brownlee might say about Whitney.

Whitney is averaging 26:20 minutes a game behind Keith, Chara and Pitkanen. It is obvious that the coaching staff here believe he's the best option available of the group of 7 here.

Another point is that this summer he had the second surgery on his other foot for that bone re-alignment surgery. Dig back into Brownlee's archives to find the details.

I like Whitney's attitude as well. Right after the trade he was interviewed on the Oiler radio broadcast. Due to timing of the trade, he could not play that night.

The interview went something like ... paraphrasing here .... I am happy and excited to be an Oiler. I never knew what Carlyle expected of me since we didn't talk. It was obvious that based on my ice time I was not in their plans.

So I am excited for a new opportunity with a new team and I want to be a go to guy here.

He left a team that was making a run at a playoff spot to come to a beat up 30th place team and he was excited by the chance.

Do we finally have Regher 2.0 here. A tough nosed Eddie Shore old time hockey mean SOB who could is looking to hit like a Mac Truck with heavy load. I am as excited about the development of Peckham as the kids. When was the last time we had a guy who is looking to unload on a winger trying to come down the wing, or a guy cutting across the middle. I hope we are seeing the development of a beauty. I can`t wait till he unloads on Iginla, and we get the pleasure of reading Iggy`s lips as he says those three little words, WT@. Then for sure we`ll know Peckham`s arrived.

I know I'll likely get blasted for this but (and PLEASE don't mistake me for an Eberle doubter, the kid is a joy to watch)...

Late in yesterday's overtime, Penner and Eberle went down 2 vs 2, Penner was carrying the puck, cut left, took a bad angle shot which happened to dribble through Kipper and then through the crease. The puck was ultimately picked up by a Flame.

My small issue is this, instead of driving hard to the net and scoring the tap in OT winner, Eberle, for some reason, pretty much followed Penner's path to the left? Not sure what he was trying to accomplish there. Your thoughts would be appreciated!

I've noticed it a lot with many of our players. I think they have a hard time reading when the player is going to take it to the boards and start cycling or when they should go to the front of the net and try for a play. It's pretty frustrating as is the flying past the net rather than waiting out front for that rebound opportunity. Hopefully it just takes a bit of time to develop chemistry.

Do not mean to piss on anyone's cornflakes but the comments that Peckham is one of our best defensemen are premature.

Peckham is doing a pretty good job mostly on our third pairing as he works his way up to the second oair. He has not yet played much against the other teams better forwards so it is tough to make a fair comparison.

I like the kid. I particularly like what he is doing with hitting and toughness but lets see him play 6-8 minutes against Jumbo Joe, Heatley and Marleau before anointing him as one of our best D men

Do not mean to piss on anyone's cornflakes but the comments that Peckham is one of our best defensemen are premature.

Peckham is doing a pretty good job mostly on our third pairing as he works his way up to the second oair. He has not yet played much against the other teams better forwards so it is tough to make a fair comparison.

I like the kid. I particularly like what he is doing with hitting and toughness but lets see him play 6-8 minutes against Jumbo Joe, Heatley and Marleau before anointing him as one of our best D men

I kind of agree, in limited minutes Peckam's toughness is a real asset, but he looked in over his head last night. Giveaways were horrid last night. Probably not getting much help from his partner but I really didn't think Theo looked that good last night.

I knew my Whitney comments wouldn't be popular, but I see what I see, and it's different from what we're commonly talking about here or Matheson's recent article. Funny thing about NHL hockey players; the ones that speak well and say all the right things get the benefit of the doubt independent of what happens on the ice. Every journalist likes to talk to a guy that responds to questions like Whitney does.

Regarding playing time, yes he gets a lot, but I suspect that will be scaled back as the season progresses given his performance to date, and that will be the first *tell* that things are going south. To be honest though, Renney does not have a lot of options. On this team, Whitney is still the third best option out there, but that is not saying a lot. He's a third pairing defenseman on any other team.

We don't have to debate this here and now, time will tell where this young man's career goes, but I suspect that all of our expectations likely need tempering.

I hope everyone is as patient with Peckham as we've all vowed to be with the young forwards, because he could really turn out to be a valuable asset. Yes, he's still a diamond in the rough, but, at least, when he *wants* to make a difference, he *can*. Can't say that about all our blueliners.

BTW, anyone see the Oilers doughnut they sell at Timmy Ho's on gamedays? Now, that's the way to fly the ON flag proudly. The best patriotism is delicious patriotism.

Do not mean to piss on anyone's cornflakes but the comments that Peckham is one of our best defensemen are premature.

Peckham is doing a pretty good job mostly on our third pairing as he works his way up to the second oair. He has not yet played much against the other teams better forwards so it is tough to make a fair comparison.

I like the kid. I particularly like what he is doing with hitting and toughness but lets see him play 6-8 minutes against Jumbo Joe, Heatley and Marleau before anointing him as one of our best D men

The way players are being rolled out there he is getting plenty of tough minutes. Check the qualcomp numbers for the season so far. It's an admittedly small sample size, but the numbers are interesting.

Nobody is anointing him anything. People are just happy to see him progressing and they are commenting on how he has looked so far this season.

Now to be fair about the Peckham praises I came across the following blog on TSN. Go down to the bottom and see Defencemen Shot Differential. Peckham is 17th worse at -10.2. All the stats are quoted from Behind The Net

I knew my Whitney comments wouldn't be popular, but I see what I see, and it's different from what we're commonly talking about here or Matheson's recent article. Funny thing about NHL hockey players; the ones that speak well and say all the right things get the benefit of the doubt independent of what happens on the ice. Every journalist likes to talk to a guy that responds to questions like Whitney does.

Regarding playing time, yes he gets a lot, but I suspect that will be scaled back as the season progresses given his performance to date, and that will be the first *tell* that things are going south. To be honest though, Renney does not have a lot of options. On this team, Whitney is still the third best option out there, but that is not saying a lot. He's a third pairing defenseman on any other team.

We don't have to debate this here and now, time will tell where this young man's career goes, but I suspect that all of our expectations likely need tempering.

Ashley, you may not see Whitney as good as some do, but saying that he's a third pairing dman is an exaggeration IMHO.

I'd say Whitney would be a #2 or #3 guy. Or in a pessimists eye #4. Gilbert a #3 or #4 guy. Smid a #5, Peckham a #5 or 6, Foster #6 ... with Struds not playing anywhere in the league. And Vandermeer is a #7.

My younger bro was complaining about Whitney and his mistakes (that was even before yesterday's game), I know he didn't look as good last night.

I told him, he's doing all they have asked of him. Big minutes, ok +/- and getting points. The best way to improve his overall game is to cut back on his minutes and some of the bumps in his game will disappear.

Although you're right - Whitney isn't a bonafide #1 defence (yet), he's at least a #3 on any other team, belonging on the second pair. He is definitely better than apart of a 3rd pairing.

Whitney is the third best option out there?? Behind who?? Foster has a great shot, but no foot speed... Gilbert has more offensive flair, but no physicality... Peckham is still working his way up the "d" depth chart, and Smid has shown some promise that he could be a #4 shutdown defense.

Not sure you and I are watching the same game out there, but I guess you're right that we'll see what happens throughout this season and the next.

What's with all the talk about Whitney? 5th in the league in minutes played. 2nd in defenceman scoring. Even +/- on a losing team.

With 30 teams in the league that leaves 60 defenceman to be considered a top pairing. Anyone that thinks Whitney falls outside of that needs to have their head examined, never mind calling him a third pairing. What a joke.

Ashley, you may not see Whitney as good as some do, but saying that he's a third pairing dman is an exaggeration IMHO.

I'd say Whitney would be a #2 or #3 guy. Or in a pessimists eye #4. Gilbert a #3 or #4 guy. Smid a #5, Peckham a #5 or 6, Foster #6 ... with Struds not playing anywhere in the league. And Vandermeer is a #7.

My younger bro was complaining about Whitney and his mistakes (that was even before yesterday's game), I know he didn't look as good last night.

I told him, he's doing all they have asked of him. Big minutes, ok +/- and getting points. The best way to improve his overall game is to cut back on his minutes and some of the bumps in his game will disappear.

Exactly, everyone is essentially playing 1-2 spots above where they should be (and where they'd be on a good, deep team)

I knew my Whitney comments wouldn't be popular, but I see what I see, and it's different from what we're commonly talking about here or Matheson's recent article. Funny thing about NHL hockey players; the ones that speak well and say all the right things get the benefit of the doubt independent of what happens on the ice. Every journalist likes to talk to a guy that responds to questions like Whitney does.

Regarding playing time, yes he gets a lot, but I suspect that will be scaled back as the season progresses given his performance to date, and that will be the first *tell* that things are going south. To be honest though, Renney does not have a lot of options. On this team, Whitney is still the third best option out there, but that is not saying a lot. He's a third pairing defenseman on any other team.

We don't have to debate this here and now, time will tell where this young man's career goes, but I suspect that all of our expectations likely need tempering.

207 points in 361 games would make me think he is better than a #3 guy.

He may not be a "complete" defenseman, but he would be in the top pair of almost every team in the league.

Seriously man, never ever again mention Peckham and Scott Stevens as comparables. Wow! Just don't.

Because the next thing you know somebody will want to compare Taylor Chorney and Bobby Orr. It is a similar argument. Yes Orr has 2 legs- Taylor Chorney - has 2 as well; Orr 2 arms, -TC - ditto, offensive defensemen-both again fit that mode.

I know you were talking about development curve, but let's not mention Stevens as a Peckham comparable. At 23, Peckham's breaking into the league as a regular; at 23 Stevens scored 61 points for the Capitals.

I'm bullish on Peckham, but a Jason Smith-like career is probably the most optimistic I'd be.

Yeah that sounds about right and you have to remember that Smith ended up in Edmonton after being run out of Toronto for mistakes in his own end. So it wont be all roses with Peckham but he does bring an aggresive quality we desperately need on the blueline.

He's probably not an Oiler when we next make the playoffs or become competitive. However he'll log lots of minutes, score some points, and be more of an asset that Visnovski in 2.5 years time when it's either time to re-up or trade him.

It's not fair to evaluate him straight-up based on who he was traded for; we obtained years and cap space in the deal as well.

Visnovsky, a force on the power-play, is an ugly -6 already this year.

I have long enjoyed Peckham as a player. I foresee a Regher future for him, better than Jason Smith, but no Stevens.
Tough, and once he gets the handle on his own zone, he will be brutal to play against. Decent at moving the puck, doesnt just rim it out like J Smith used to.

To see a Regehr future he would have to be in consideration for the Canadian Olympic team. Which is where Reghr is- top ten - twelve D man with a Canadian passport. Peckham is never going to be our best D man or, if he is, we are not competing for the SC with this core group of forwards. So I think Regehr is a stretch

Willis' Jason Smith comparable is a very good defenseman and played shutdown minutes very effectively in 06 final

Watching the game last night, I liked what Pecks brought. Had some issues when the puck was on his stick, but as I watched him play, I thought about what SM said about Gudbranson in Oil Change. I'm not comparing the two by any stretch, but do we have another Theo Peckham anywhere in the system?

As a matter of fact, I don't think many teams have that sort of aggressive, physical, in your face D-man anymore. As such I see him as an asset worth giving every opportunity to develop, especially considering one of the negatives consistently brought up about this team is our lack of size and how easy we are to play against. For me, Theo is a step in the right direction.

He's probably not an Oiler when we next make the playoffs or become competitive. However he'll log lots of minutes, score some points, and be more of an asset that Visnovski in 2.5 years time when it's either time to re-up or trade him.

It's not fair to evaluate him straight-up based on who he was traded for; we obtained years and cap space in the deal as well.

Visnovsky, a force on the power-play, is an ugly -6 already this year.

Fair points - but I think Whitney will be around when we make the playoffs... I think his contract is up 2013/2014... Playoffs should be expected in that time frame. Whitney would only get better, and hopefully, we'll have a couple of our current "d" prospects panning out.

The only issue that hasn't been resolved around that time would be our goaltending. We might have four goalies on our active roster, if our current trend continues...

Whitney has acknowledged (Journal article) that he is adjusting to playing close to 30 minutes a night. He said he was learning how to take it easy some shifts like Pronger.

Considering he is playing all special teams and likely against the other teams best forwards, he is likely going to have some adjustment period and is going to have some times where he is just exhausted.

He's probably not an Oiler when we next make the playoffs or become competitive. However he'll log lots of minutes, score some points, and be more of an asset that Visnovski in 2.5 years time when it's either time to re-up or trade him.

It's not fair to evaluate him straight-up based on who he was traded for; we obtained years and cap space in the deal as well.

Visnovsky, a force on the power-play, is an ugly -6 already this year.

I hope you're right about the amount of time Whitney still has in the bank. While I respect your thought process regarding Whitney VS Visnovsky, I'm not as sold on Whitney's health in general and his bionic feet in particular as most others here. I hope that if people are comparing him to Forsberg this time next year, they're discussing his shot and not his vibrant spirit in the face of crippling injury.

With a record of 2-4-1 and a PK last in the league with goals against pretty close, calling someone our "best defenseman" doesn't hold alot of water.

Peckham SHOULDN'T be playing better hockey than Whitney, but is. There hasn't been a "calming influence" on the backend for 5 games now.

You're kidding right? Stats don't lie - Whitney hasn't been outplayed by Peckham for 5 games... Peckham did play better than Whitney last night - but not in the games prior...

He has been a calming influence and a good assistant captain. The guy is also adjusting to his increased minutes. Granted - being the best defensemen on a 30th placed team doesn't say much - but he is our best option. Until we draft a Larson or a Hedman, we'll have to live with that fact...